第 11 页

"Perfectly."

"And what would you need to do it? let us hear."

"Two splinters of wood, and some linen for a bandage."

"Do you hear, Rosa?" said Gryphus, "the prisoner is going toset my arm, that's a saving; come, assist me to get up, Ifeel as heavy as lead."

Rosa lent the sufferer her shoulder; he put his unhurt armaround her neck, and making an effort, got on his legs,whilst Cornelius, to save him a walk, pushed a chair towardshim.

Gryphus sat down; then, turning towards his daughter, hesaid, --

"Well, didn't you hear? go and fetch what is wanted."

Rosa went down, and immediately after returned with twostaves of a small barrel and a large roll of linen bandage.

Cornelius had made use of the intervening moments to takeoff the man's coat, and to tuck up his shirt sleeve.

"Is this what you require, sir?" asked Rosa.

"Yes, mademoiselle," answered Cornelius, looking at thethings she had brought, -- "yes, that's right. Now push thistable, whilst I support the arm of your father."

Rosa pushed the table, Cornelius placed the broken arm on itso as to make it flat, and with perfect skill set the bone,adjusted the splinters, and fastened the bandages.

At the last touch, the jailer fainted a second time.

"Go and fetch vinegar, mademoiselle," said Cornelius; "wewill bathe his temples, and he will recover."

But, instead of acting up to the doctor's prescription,Rosa, after having satisfied herself that her father wasstill unconscious, approached Cornelius and said, --

"Service for service, sir."

"What do you mean, my pretty child?" said Cornelius.

"I mean to say, sir, that the judge who is to examine youto-morrow has inquired to-day for the room in which you areconfined, and, on being told that you are occupying the cellof Mynheer Cornelius de Witt, laughed in a very strange andvery disagreeable manner, which makes me fear that no goodawaits you."

"But," asked Cornelius, "what harm can they do to me?"

"Look at that gibbet."

"But I am not guilty," said Cornelius.

"Were they guilty whom you see down there gibbeted, mangled,and torn to pieces?"

"That's true," said Cornelius, gravely.

"And besides," continued Rosa, "the people want to find youguilty. But whether innocent or guilty, your trial beginsto-morrow, and the day after you will be condemned. Mattersare settled very quickly in these times."

"Well, and what do you conclude from all this?"

"I conclude that I am alone, that I am weak, that my fatheris lying in a swoon, that the dog is muzzled, and thatconsequently there is nothing to prevent your making yourescape. Fly, then; that's what I mean."

"What do you say?"

"I say that I was not able to save Mynheer Cornelius orMynheer John de Witt, and that I should like to save you.Only be quick; there, my father is regaining his breath, oneminute more, and he will open his eyes, and it will be toolate. Do you hesitate?"

In fact, Cornelius stood immovable, looking at Rosa, yetlooking at her as if he did not hear her.

"Don't you understand me?" said the young girl, with someimpatience.

"Yes, I do," said Cornelius, "but ---- "

"But?"

"I will not, they would accuse you."

"Never mind," said Rosa, blushing, "never mind that."

"You are very good, my dear child," replied Cornelius, "butI stay."

"You stay, oh, sir! oh, sir! don't you understand that youwill be condemned to death, executed on the scaffold,perhaps assassinated and torn to pieces, just like MynheerJohn and Mynheer Cornelius. For heaven's sake, don't thinkof me, but fly from this place, Take care, it bears ill luckto the De Witts!"

"Halloa!" cried the jailer, recovering his senses, "who istalking of those rogues, those wretches, those villains, theDe Witts?"

"Don't be angry, my good man," said Cornelius, with hisgood-tempered smile, "the worst thing for a fracture isexcitement, by which the blood is heated."

Thereupon, he said in an undertone to Rosa --

"My child, I am innocent, and I shall await my trial withtranquillity and an easy mind."

"Hush," said Rosa.

"Why hush?"

"My father must not suppose that we have been talking toeach other."

"What harm would that do?"

"What harm? He would never allow me to come here any more,"said Rosa.

Cornelius received this innocent confidence with a smile; hefelt as if a ray of good fortune were shining on his path.

"Now, then, what are you chattering there together about?"said Gryphus, rising and supporting his right arm with hisleft.

"Nothing," said Rosa; "the doctor is explaining to me whatdiet you are to keep."

"Diet, diet for me? Well, my fine girl, I shall put you ondiet too."

"On what diet, my father?"

"Never to go to the cells of the prisoners, and, if ever youshould happen to go, to leave them as soon as possible.Come, off with me, lead the way, and be quick."

Rosa and Cornelius exchanged glances.

That of Rosa tried to express, --

"There, you see?"

That of Cornelius said, --

"Let it be as the Lord wills."

Chapter 11

Cornelius van Baerle's Will

Rosa had not been mistaken; the judges came on the followingday to the Buytenhof, and proceeded with the trial ofCornelius van Baerle. The examination, however, did not lastlong, it having appeared on evidence that Cornelius had keptat his house that fatal correspondence of the brothers DeWitt with France.

He did not deny it.

The only point about which there seemed any difficulty waswhether this correspondence had been intrusted to him by hisgodfather, Cornelius de Witt.

But as, since the death of those two martyrs, Van Baerle hadno longer any reason for withholding the truth, he not onlydid not deny that the parcel had been delivered to him byCornelius de Witt himself, but he also stated all thecircumstances under which it was done.

This confession involved the godson in the crime of thegodfather; manifest complicity being considered to existbetween Cornelius de Witt and Cornelius van Baerle.

The honest doctor did not confine himself to this avowal,but told the whole truth with regard to his own tastes,habits, and daily life. He described his indifference topolitics, his love of study, of the fine arts, of science,and of flowers. He explained that, since the day whenCornelius de Witt handed to him the parcel at Dort, hehimself had never touched, nor even noticed it.

To this it was objected, that in this respect he could notpossibly be speaking the truth, since the papers had beendeposited in a press in which both his hands and his eyesmust have been engaged every day.

Cornelius answered that it was indeed so; that, however, henever put his hand into the press but to ascertain whetherhis bulbs were dry, and that he never looked into it but tosee if they were beginning to sprout.

To this again it was objected, that his pretendedindifference respecting this deposit was not to bereasonably entertained, as he could not have received suchpapers from the hand of his godfather without being madeacquainted with their important character.

He replied that his godfather Cornelius loved him too well,and, above all, that he was too considerate a man to havecommunicated to him anything of the contents of the parcel,well knowing that such a confidence would only have causedanxiety to him who received it.

To this it was objected that, if De Witt had wished to actin such a way, he would have added to the parcel, in case ofaccidents, a certificate setting forth that his godson wasan entire stranger to the nature of this correspondence, orat least he would during his trial have written a letter tohim, which might be produced as his justification.

Cornelius replied that undoubtedly his godfather could nothave thought that there was any risk for the safety of hisdeposit, hidden as it was in a press which was looked uponas sacred as the tabernacle by the whole household of VanBaerle; and that consequently he had considered thecertificate as useless. As to a letter, he certainly hadsome remembrance that some moments previous to his arrest,whilst he was absorbed in the contemplation of one of therarest of his bulbs, John de Witt's servant entered hisdry-room, and handed to him a paper, but the whole was tohim only like a vague dream; the servant had disappeared,and as to the paper, perhaps it might be found if a propersearch were made.

As far as Craeke was concerned, it was impossible to findhim, as he had left Holland.

The paper also was not very likely to be found, and no onegave himself the trouble to look for it.

Cornelius himself did not much press this point, since, evensupposing that the paper should turn up, it could not haveany direct connection with the correspondence whichconstituted the crime.

The judges wished to make it appear as though they wanted tourge Cornelius to make a better defence; they displayed thatbenevolent patience which is generally a sign of themagistrate's being interested for the prisoner, or of aman's having so completely got the better of his adversarythat he needs no longer any oppressive means to ruin him.

Cornelius did not accept of this hypocritical protection,and in a last answer, which he set forth with the noblebearing of a martyr and the calm serenity of a righteousman, he said, --

"You ask me things, gentlemen, to which I can answer onlythe exact truth. Hear it. The parcel was put into my handsin the way I have described; I vow before God that I was,and am still, ignorant of its contents, and that it was notuntil my arrest that I learned that this deposit was thecorrespondence of the Grand Pensionary with the Marquis deLouvois. And lastly, I vow and protest that I do notunderstand how any one should have known that this parcelwas in my house; and, above all, how I can be deemedcriminal for having received what my illustrious andunfortunate godfather brought to my house."

This was Van Baerle's whole defence; after which the judgesbegan to deliberate on the verdict.

They considered that every offshoot of civil discord ismischievous, because it revives the contest which it is theinterest of all to put down.

One of them, who bore the character of a profound observer,laid down as his opinion that this young man, so phlegmaticin appearance, must in reality be very dangerous, as underthis icy exterior he was sure to conceal an ardent desire toavenge his friends, the De Witts.

Another observed that the love of tulips agreed perfectlywell with that of politics, and that it was proved inhistory that many very dangerous men were engaged ingardening, just as if it had been their profession, whilstreally they occupied themselves with perfectly differentconcerns; witness Tarquin the Elder, who grew poppies atGabii, and the Great Conde, who watered his carnations atthe dungeon of Vincennes at the very moment when the formermeditated his return to Rome, and the latter his escape fromprison.

The judge summed up with the following dilemma: --

"Either Cornelius van Baerle is a great lover of tulips, ora great lover of politics; in either case, he has told us afalsehood; first, because his having occupied himself withpolitics is proved by the letters which were found at hishouse; and secondly, because his having occupied himselfwith tulips is proved by the bulbs which leave no doubt ofthe fact. And herein lies the enormity of the case. AsCornelius van Baerle was concerned in the growing of tulipsand in the pursuit of politics at one and the same time, theprisoner is of hybrid character, of an amphibiousorganisation, working with equal ardour at politics and attulips, which proves him to belong to the class of men mostdangerous to public tranquillity, and shows a certain, orrather a complete, analogy between his character and that ofthose master minds of which Tarquin the Elder and the GreatConde have been felicitously quoted as examples."

The upshot of all these reasonings was, that his Highnessthe Prince Stadtholder of Holland would feel infinitelyobliged to the magistracy of the Hague if they simplifiedfor him the government of the Seven Provinces by destroyingeven the least germ of conspiracy against his authority.

This argument capped all the others, and, in order so muchthe more effectually to destroy the germ of conspiracy,sentence of death was unanimously pronounced againstCornelius van Baerle, as being arraigned, and convicted, forhaving, under the innocent appearance of a tulip-fancier,participated in the detestable intrigues and abominableplots of the brothers De Witt against Dutch nationality andin their secret relations with their French enemy.

A supplementary clause was tacked to the sentence, to theeffect that "the aforesaid Cornelius van Baerle should beled from the prison of the Buytenhof to the scaffold in theyard of the same name, where the public executioner wouldcut off his head."

As this deliberation was a most serious affair, it lasted afull half-hour, during which the prisoner was remanded tohis cell.

There the Recorder of the States came to read the sentenceto him.

Master Gryphus was detained in bed by the fever caused bythe fracture of his arm. His keys passed into the hands ofone of his assistants. Behind this turnkey, who introducedthe Recorder, Rosa, the fair Frisian maid, had slipped intothe recess of the door, with a handkerchief to her mouth tostifle her sobs.

Cornelius listened to the sentence with an expression ratherof surprise than sadness.

After the sentence was read, the Recorder asked him whetherhe had anything to answer.

"Indeed, I have not," he replied. "Only I confess that,among all the causes of death against which a cautious manmay guard, I should never have supposed this to becomprised."

On this answer, the Recorder saluted Van Baerle with allthat consideration which such functionaries generally bestowupon great criminals of every sort.

But whilst he was about to withdraw, Cornelius asked, "Bythe bye, Mr. Recorder, what day is the thing -- you knowwhat I mean -- to take place?"

"Why, to-day," answered the Recorder, a little surprised bythe self-possession of the condemned man.

A sob was heard behind the door, and Cornelius turned roundto look from whom it came; but Rosa, who had foreseen thismovement, had fallen back.